This section brings together the approximately 700 objects and photographs used in Canada's Naval History. Use this section to directly access objects and photographs grouped by type, as shown below, or use the search function above to search through them by title.

Canadian Blue Ensign

This Canadian Blue Ensign was given to Edouard Gagnon, a Canadian who served in Arctic convoys for two years.

At the time he received the flag, Gagnon, a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, was on loan to the Royal Navy aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Trumpeter. A sailor from an unidentified Canadian merchant ship recognized Gagnon as a fellow Canadian, and gave him the flag. While Canadian merchant ships usually flew the Red Ensign, those where a captain and some of the crew were officers in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve were authorized to fly Blue Ensigns like this one.

Blue Ensign
CWM 19980083-001